Unemployment in recession-hit Brazil climbing: 8.8 million looking for jobs

The number of jobless workers went up 1.21 million in one year, which puts the total number of people seeking employment at 8.8 million

The sectors that lost the most jobs over the past year were industry (-3.5%) and construction (-2.9%), the ones hit hardest by Brazil's current recession.According to the statistics, unemployment has grown steadily throughout Brazil since November of last year, when it reached 6.5%.

Unemployment in recession deep Brazil climbed to 8.7% of active population in the quarter ending last August, the government said Thursday. The indicator shows a steep hike from the 6.9% recorded in August 2014, according to statistics of the National Study of Households (PNAD), published by the state Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The number of jobless workers went up 1.21 million in one year, which puts the total number of people seeking employment at 8.8 million, while the active population remained stable at 92.1 million.

The sectors that lost the most jobs over the past year were industry (-3.5%) and construction (-2.9%), the ones hit hardest by Brazil's current recession.

In the country's six main cities, unemployment stood at 7.6% last September, according to another official study presented by the IBGE last week, and which will be definitively substituted in 2016 by the PNAD, which includes the methodology recommended by the International Labor Organization, or ILO.

According to these statistics, unemployment has grown steadily throughout Brazil since November of last year, when it reached 6.5%.

The Brazilian economy grew by only 0.1% in 2014, is currently in a recession, and experts forecast for the year 2015 a contraction of 3%.

The government launched an austerity plan aimed at correcting its budget deficit, but which has, however, contributed to the slowdown of the economy. The package of austerity measures included an increase in interest rates, restrictions on credit and on government spending, as well as higher taxes, which have discouraged investment and consumer purchasing.

Soaring inflation, which reached 7.64% in the first nine months of the year, and more expensive credit have also contributed to freezing family consumption, which has traditionally been the driving force of the Brazilian economy.

Top Comments

Unemplyment of this scale is no surprise at all given the utter mismanagement of the economy by The Liar Mantega and DumbAss Dilma PLUS the on-going corruption which seems to pervade all aspects of the economy.

Where this is going to end is anyone's guess but it will undoubtedly be very harmful to what is left of the economy.

Oct 31st, 2015 - 05:29 pm 0

Jack Bauer

Unemployment in recession deep Brazil climbed to 8.7% of active population in the quarter ending last August, the government said Thursday. 

8.7% of the economically 'active' population...add to that another 14 million families, or 47 million people, 28 million of which are of working age, all sponging off the Bolsa familia, and you get a far better feeling of the shit Brazil is in....To try to balance the 2016 budget, fat D has made deep cuts into public health, education and infrastructure investments, but not the Bolsa Família. Great strategy to build a strong economy.

Oct 31st, 2015 - 09:06 pm 0

ChrisR

@ 2 Jack Bauer
but not the Bolsa Família.

Just the same in Uruguay.

It seems that the countries with these schemes are shit scared of reducing them, nevermind cancelling the programme itself because the stinking poor will riot.

And that will be the first day in their wasted lives that they have worked.